A Generation (1955)

January 26, 1955 (PL) • War, Drama • 87m

Overview

Stach is a wayward teen living in squalor on the outskirts of Nazi-occupied Warsaw. Guided by an avuncular Communist organizer, he is introduced to the underground resistance—and to the beautiful Dorota. Soon he is engaged in dangerous efforts to fight oppression and indignity, maturing as he assumes responsibility for others’ lives.

Director

Andrzej Wajda

Writers

Bohdan Czeszko, Bohdan Czeszko

Top Billed

Tadeusz Łomnicki

Keywords

based on novel or book jewish ghetto world war ii black and white communism warsaw, poland german occupation of poland

Where to watch

Free / Included

Criterion Channel

Top Billed Cast

Tadeusz Łomnicki

Stanisław 'Bartek' Mazur

Urszula Modrzyńska

Ewa 'Dorota'

Tadeusz Janczar

Jasio Krone

Janusz Paluszkiewicz

Sekuła

Ryszard Kotys

Jacek

Roman Polanski

Mundek

Ludwik Benoit

Grzesio

Zofia Czerwińska

Barkeeper Lola

Zbigniew Cybulski

Kostek

Tadeusz Fijewski

German Guard in a Sawmill

Zygmunt Hobot

Abram

Cezary Julski

Coach Driver

Bronisław Kassowski

Waldemar Berg

August Kowalczyk

Priest

Jerzy Krasowski

AK Major

Zenon Laurentowski

Carpentry Shop Worker

Stanisław Milski

Caretaker Krone

Juliusz Roland

"Kaczor"

Hanna Skarżanka

Antoniowa

Janusz Ściwiarski

Ryszard Berg

Kazimierz Wichniarz

Werkschutz

Zygmunt Zintel

Meister Ziarno

Ryszard Ber

Zyzik (uncredited)

Bronisław Dardziński

Szymon (uncredited)

Kazimierz Dębicki

Alcohol Salesman (uncredited)

Julian Dziedzina

Gestapo Member arresting Dorota (uncredited)

Wiesław Gołas

German Soldier on Patrol (uncredited)

Jerzy Gruza

Soldier chasing Jasio on a Staircase (uncredited)

Monika Gutman

Woman leaving Sewers (uncredited)

Zofia Jamry

Storekeeper (uncredited)

Mieczysław Kalenik

SS Soldier (uncredited)

Bogumił Kobiela

Soldier killed by Jasio Krone (uncredited)

Henryk Kucharski

Soldier chasing Jasio Krone (uncredited)

Kazimierz Kutz

GL Member (uncredited)

Jan Machulski

GL Member (uncredited)

Franciszek Pieczka

German Soldier on Patrol (uncredited)

Kazimierz Stankiewicz

Stach's Neighbor (uncredited)

Henryk Staszewski

Gendarme taking part in Dorota's Arrest (uncredited)

Stanisław Stojko

GL Member (uncredited)

Janusz Strachocki

Worker (uncredited)

Mieczysław Waśkowski

(uncredited)

Danuta Wodyńska

Franusiowa (uncredited)

Stefan Wroncki

(uncredited)

Crew

Andrzej Wajda

Director

Roman Mann

Production Design

Andrzej Markowski

Music

Jerzy Lipman

Director of Photography

Jerzy Szeski

Costume Design

Anna Rubińska

Assistant Editor

Stefan Matyjaszkiewicz

Camera Operator

Bohdan Czeszko

Screenplay

Józef Galewski

Set Decoration

Czesław Raniszewski

Editor

Jerzy Skrzepiński

Set Decoration

Józef Koprowicz

Sound

Jozef Ciecwirek

Lighting Technician

Zdzislaw Papierz

Makeup Artist

Romuald Hajnberg

Unit Manager

Ignacy Taub

Production Manager

Zygmunt Rybarski

Unit Manager

Roman Kowalski

Unit Manager

Zygmunt Nowak

Assistant Sound Engineer

Józef Tomporek

Assistant Sound Engineer

Maria Pietrzak

Script Supervisor

Andrzej Markowski

Conductor

Kazimierz Kutz

Assistant Director

Aleksander Ford

Creative Director

Czesław Grabowski

Assistant Camera

Bohdan Czeszko

Novel

Stefan Szczepanski

Assistant Makeup Artist

Konrad Nałęcki

First Assistant Director

Reviews

CinemaSerf

⭐ 7/10

September 1, 2024

At the height of the Nazi occupation of Poland in 1942, this tells us a story of war with a slightly different slant. It takes up the cudgels of the youth whose innocence was well and truly stripped away by their oppressors and illustrates just how tough it was to grow up in any sort of a natural fashion when guns were everywhere and freedom-fighting the order of the day. That is exemplified here by "Stach" (Tadeusz Lomnicki). He grew up in the Warsaw equivalent of a shanty town, with his mother, and learned to live on a combination of wits and strength. He falls in with some communist resistance fighters at work and that's where he meets "Dorota" (Urszula Modrzynska) whom he begins a relationship with whilst perils mount outside. The killing of an officer by his close friend "Jacek" (Ryszard Kostas) makes matters much more intense and with their enemy now firmly focussed on the group, it becomes even more dangerous and lonely for an increasingly angry and frustrated 'Stach". Andrzej Wajda manages to use the tightly knit cast here to create a drama that's entirely plausible of a society struggling to retain any semblance of it's freedoms and principles in the face of an overwhelming and hostile government. He uses the character of "Stach" cleverly to contrast his vulnerability and, at times even childishness, with his courage and his desires. This also shows us a bit of the enemy of any enemy is my friend philopsohy as people with little in common find themselves (temporarily) allied to combat a common foe safe in the knowledge that each are the other's next foe down the line in due course. Like most of the best films to depict events of WWII, this uses the ordinariness of the people to fight it's corner well. Decent people who were not trained killers, indeed here they are barely out of school, yet they adapt to the wreckage of their city; reduced to huddling in corners or ruins or sewers that are darkly lit and photographed as if these very sets were terrified. This is a tough watch and it tests humanity in many of it's guises as it depicts a sort of hope from hopelessness - but without any danger of rose covered cottages, or cherry pie endings.

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A Generation (1955)

Bohdan Czeszko, Bohdan Czeszko

Where to watch

Top Billed Cast

Crew

Reviews

CinemaSerf

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